17-year-old Hannah Rawls is proud of the shine she help add to the base wall of her high school football field in Eclectic.

"We really had to scrub because it took off some of the paint," said Hannah Rawls.

Bryan: "Was it a lot of hard work?"

"Yea, a little bit," she said.

On the surface, you may not think it's a big deal but for this Elmore County High School senior and cheerleader, it means the world because she feels more secure against the backdrop of terrorist attacks in Spain, the political turmoil in America and the sheer ugliness behind all those statues coming down.

"It's a peace of mind on the field and forgetting everything else going on," said Rawls.

Rawls is not alone.

Elmore County High School Athletic Director Terry Nicholas says he too has never looked forward to another season such as the one coming up.

"They're hungry for something positive, hungry for something familiar. You can't get more American than high school football," Nicholas said.

Nicholas helped get the Panther's football field in pristine condition in recent months, which helped him take his mind off the madness beyond Elmore County.

All across Alabama and America, maintenance crews are busy doing their part to get their respective fields ready to welcome the cheers again. To illustrate that point, you don't often hear about teenagers getting up shortly after sunrise on a Saturday morning to come to the football and do some dirty work. Hannah Rawls and his friends did just that.

"Enjoyable and you don't really think about anything else," said Rawls.

The work included cleaning sinks and toilets, so nothing was beneath them. Rawls and her fellow cheerleaders say it was worth the trouble to drown out the steady drumbeat of depressing news from far and wide.